Carpet stretcher and tacker



No. 627,428. Patented June 20, I899. C. P. KNAPP.

CARPET STRETCHER AND TAG-KER.

(Application filed Mar. 30, 1899.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

ATTORNEYS. I

Tu: NORRIS PETERS co Puma-Luna, WASHINGTON, 0. c.

No. 627,428. Patented June 20, I899.

0. P. KNAPP.

CARPET STRETCHER AND TAGKEB.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(Application filed Mar. 80, 1899.)

(No Model.)

INVENTOR Gkarles 1 Eng/.27.?

A TTOHN EXS.

NITED STATES;

CHARLES P. KNAPP, OF DEPOSIT, NEW YORK.

CARPET STRETCHJE'R AND TACKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters. Patent No. 627,428, dated June 20, 1899,

Application filed March 30, 1899. Serial No. 7111 (N0 modem T0 a-ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES P. .KNAPP, residing at Deposit, in the county of Delaware and State of New York, have made certain new and useful Improvementsin Carpet Stretchers and Tackers, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates to that class of carpet-stretchers on which a hammer is mounted whereby to drive atack fed from a magazine or belt to a point just behind the head of the stretcher and in a position to be engaged by the driving devices.

The object of the invention is a device of the general character above mentioned in which the action of the stretching-head will be especially effective, in which the tacks may be fed when the desired point is reached in a positive and easily-controlled manner and be held in direct line with a plunger adapted to be impelled against the tack by a hammer, and in which the blows of the hammer may be repeated as often as necessary without moving the device or allowing more than the one tack to come in line with the driving plunger.

The invention consists in certain details of construction and arrangement of the parts and combinations of the same, which I shall first describe and then point out the novel features in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the'accompanying drawings, forming part'of this specification, in which like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure l is aperspective view of my improved carpet stretcher and tacker. Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal section of the tack-feeding devices. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the same. Fig; 4 is a side view of the stretcher and tacker in position to drive a tack. Fig. 5 is a front view illustrating the tack-receiving hopper and plunger. Fig. 6 is an inverted plan View of the tack-receiving hopper, and Fig. 7 is an enlarged vertical section on the line 7 7 of Fig. 6.

My improved carpet stretcher and tacker is provided with a stretching-head 10, formed with a toothedforward edge preferably inclined rearwardly from the middle toward each side, and the head extends rearwardly from said edge and is provided with a forked extension 11, in which the handle-rod 12 is securely fastened by screws or the like. Vheel-spindles 18 project from. the stretching-head on each side of the forked extension 11, and rubber-tired wheels 14 are mounted on said spindles, the said wheels serving as a rolling support for the device and as a fulcrum on which the device is turned to cause the teeth to engage with or be disengaged from the carpet.

A bearing 15 is provided with a bifurcated lower end 16, by which it is held upon the stretching-head at about an angle of forty-five degrees with the handle-rod 12, and in such bearing a plunger 17 is fitted, the said plunger being spring-pressed to a normal outward or upward position. In cross-bars 18, secured to the bifurcated lower end 16 of the bearing 15, is mounted the tack-hopper 19, consisting of two semiconical jaws formed with eccentric pintles held in openings in the crossbar, whereby the said jaws will be normally held in lower position by gravity, with their lower ends abutting. Registering recesses are formed in the lower ends of the jaws, whereby to form an opening 20, through which the shank of the tack projects when delivered to the hopper, the head of the tack resting on the lower end of the same. The hopper 19 extends below the stretcher-head, as shown in Fig. 5, the head being provided with a recess '19 for this'purpose, and a forked spring 19 secured to the head, embraces the two jaws of the hopper, whereby-to assist inclosing the same and to keep the hopper from swinging as a Whole to one side or. the other, thereby maintaining the position thereof in direct line with the plunger and enabling the latter to always strike the tack-head squarely.

A bearing-plate 21, formed with a raised bearing-surface 22, is secured to the handlerod in the rear of the stretcher-head, and on such bearing-surface a hammer-arm 23 is pivotally secured by a boltor other suitable means, the said arm being of such a length that its head 24 will fall upon the upper end of the plunger 17 when the arm isthrown down, and in the rear of its pivot the hammerarm is extended and flared to form a wing 25, formed with a plurality of apertures 26, any one of which is adapted to receive the bent end of an operating-rod 27, which latter extends along the under side of the handle-rod 12 and through a sleeve 28 thereon and at its opposite end is connected to a handle 29, fitted to slide in a socket 30 on the end of the handle-rod 12.

To feed the tacks to the hopper one at a time, I form the handle-rod with a longitudinal groove or recess in which a long oval bearing-block 31 is secured, the rear or upper end of said block being extended, and to this extension the casing 32 is adjustably secured by having elongated slots at one end fitted over thumb screws 33, Working in the bearingblock 31. At the opposite end of said casing a shaft is journaled, the said shaft carrying a sprocket-wheel 3t on the inside of the easing and having on each end extended through the casing a notched wheel 35. A detentspring 35 is securedto the top of the casing and extends over and in engagement with each notched wheel. A tack-carrying belt 36 is fitted around the bearing-block 31, and when the belt is moved in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2 a tack will fall head .down

from the belt into a cup 37 every time a tack reaches the open space at the termination of the extension of the bearing-block. Thus it will be seen that that portion of the belt in the rear of such extension will always be free of tacks and the sprocket-wheel 34 engages with its teeth the openings in the belt where the tacks have been and turns the belt when the notched wheels are turned by the hand of the operator. The notches on said wheel are at such distances apart that a tack will drop into the cup 37 every time the detent-springs 35 engage with a notch in the wheel, the click of the spring giving notice that a tack has been dropped. The tack-receiving cup 37 mentioned above is pivoted in ears depending from the casing just below the rear end of the bearing-block extension and its bottom is weighted, so as to normally lie with its mouth up to receive a tack. The inner walls of the cup converge toward the bottom, which latter is forked with a circular fiat cavity 37 about the width and diameter of a tack-head, so that when a tack falls into the cup the head will always be directed to such cavity and lodge therein and the shank of the tack will point upward and in a position to be thrown point first out of the cup when the latter is tilted. The pintle ofthe cup is extended to form a handle 38, by which the cup may be tilted. \Vhen a tack is dropped into the cup, the latter is tilted to throw the tackpoint forward into a chute 39, extending longitudinally of the handle-rod, and thence down through the downwardly-curved mouth of the chute into the hopper 19, when it is ready to be driven by the hammer.

A cover e0 incloses the tack-feeding devices, the cover being provided with a door 41, through which the belt may be reached in order to be refilled,'and with openings 42 to allow the notched wheels and the cup-handle to be operated from the outside of the cover.

In order to cause the tacks to always drop head down into the cup 37, a stop 43 is secured to the casing in the path of the tacks, so as to engage with the shank of a tack and cause it to assume an upright position.

In practical operation the operator grasps the handle 29 and wheels the device to the desired point on the carpet, then tilts the device until the teeth of the stretching-head engage with the carpet. Further pushing on the handle 29, it will be seen, will not only stretch the carpet, but will at the same time retract the hammer. The free hand of the operator then turns the wheels 35 one notch, which will drop a tack into the cup 37. The cup is then tilted forward by its handle, thereby throwing the tack into the chute, and it will fall by gravity into the hopper, with its head resting on the lower end of the latter. The handle is then drawn back, causing the hammer-head to drop upon the plunger, which in turn drives the tack.

By providing the wing 25 of the hammerarm with a plurality of apertures the length of stroke of the hammer may be changed as desired by changing the bent end of the operating-rod from one aperture to another. Should the tack-carrying belt at any time stretch and become slack, the thumb-screws 33 may be loosened and the casing adjusted to tighten the belt.

What I claim is 1. In a device of the character described, the stretching-head, the tack-holding devices mounted thereon, the handle-rod secured to said stretching-head, a hammer arranged to drive the tack and pivotally secured on said handle-rod, the said hammer being provided with a flared extension rearward of its pivot in which a plurality of apertures are formed and an operating-rod having a bent end arranged to be detachably held in any one of said apertures, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a device of the character described, the stretchin g-head the tack-receivin g hopper thereon,the handle-rod secured to said stretching-head and formed with a socket at its rear end, a hammer pivotally mounted on said handle-rod and formed with an extension in the rear of its pivot, an operating-rod connected at one end to said extension and a handle fitted to move in said socket and connected to the opposite end of said operating-rod whereby forward pressure on said handle to stretch the carpet will retract the hammer and hold the same in raised position as set forth.

3. The hereindescribed carpet stretcher and tacker provided with a stretching-head formed with a recess in its front edge, bars 18 secured to said head and extending across said recess,the said bars being each provided with an opening, tack-receiving jaws 19,each formed with eccentric pintles inserted in the openings in the bars 18, whereby the jaws will normally lie with their outer ends abutting, and a spring 19 embracing the lower ends of said jaws whereby to normally hold said jaws in the middle of the recess, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a device for the purpose described the stretching-head, the tack-holdin g devices, the handle-rod, the tack-carrying belt fitted to travel thereon, the casing through which said belt passes, a tiltable cup mounted in said casing below a lap of said belt, means for automatically dropping a tack into the cup when it comes in line therewith, and a chute held on said handle-rod adjacent said cup and arranged to receive the tack from the cup when the latter is tilted, as set forth.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination with the stretching-head, the tack-receiving hopper and the handle-rod mounted on said stretching-head, of a tiltable cup mounted in a casing on the handlerod, and provided with a weighted bottom, sides converging toward said bottom, and a round fiat cavity in said bottom,means mounted upon said rod whereby to drop a tack-head down into said cup, and a chute on said handle-rod and adjacent said cup whereby to receive the tack when the cup is tilted, as set forth.

6. The combination with the stretchinghead, the tack-receiving hopper, and the handle-rod on said head, of the bearing-block on said rod and formed with anextension, the

tack-carrying belt fitted to travel on said block and extension, a casing secured on said extension and provided with a transverse shaft at one end spaced from the end of said extension, a sprocket-wheel on said shaft and engaging said belt to move the same, a notched wheel on said shaft and provided with a spring-detent whereby to move the sprocket-wheel one tooth at a time, a tiltable cup held in said casing at a point where the extension terminates whereby a tack will drop into said cup when it reaches such end of the extension, and a chute arranged adjacent said cup, as and for the purpose set forth.

7. In a device of the character described the combination with the stretching-head, the tack-receiving hopper, and the handle-rod, of the tack-carrying belt, the casingthrough which said belt is arranged to travel, the said casing being provided with an open space into which the tacks are adapted to fall from said belt, means for catching a tack as it falls and conveying it to the receiving-hopper, and a stop on said casing in the path of the tacks, and adapted to engage the shanks of the tacks whereby to cause them to assume an upright position as they leave the belt, as set forth.

CHAS. P. KNAPP.

Witnesses:

SoLoN G. KEMoN, 'F. S. STITT. 

